Claire's Scared Eyes
by thehogwartsgleechick
Summary: The new girl in the Jeffersonian has a crush on Zach, but what happens when a case gets a little too close to the squints.
1. Meetings

**Angela POV**

"Bones, who's that?" Booth said pointing to the girl standing next to Brennan, when the girl walked (practically hiding behind Brennan) she kept her head down

"Oh, this is my new intern." She said looking at the girl, expecting her to say her name. The girl was clearly oblivious, she continued to keep her head down, "This is Claire Lilac."

When Brennan said her name Claire's head snapped up. Her eyes were wide like a deer in the headlights. She looked like a scared seven year old in a teenager's body. She scanned around at all of us, her eyes the size of those energy saving light bulbs. The color was like a grass field. Her hair was a dark brown, so dark it was almost black, and tied up in a tight ponytail, making her eyes seem bigger. She was a bit tall, not that much shorter than Zach (who was staring at her), even though she was wearing heels.

"Claire this is Agent Sealy Booth, Dr. Jack Hodgins, Angela Montenagro, and Dr. Zach Addy, who you will be working with." Brennan said going around the room

When her scared eyes lingered to Zach they got even wider, if that was even possible. She quickly dropped her head when she caught herself about to smile at him. I had to hold myself back form not laughing they were so cute together. Claire's big scared eyes and Zach's shaggy brown hair, they'd be a perfect couple.

"Um…" Brennan started, confused that the girl still wasn't talking, "I was thinking that Zach would show you around, considering that you will be his intern."

The room was dead silent for a few seconds, but Claire looked up at Zach. His face was horrified and teenagerly embarrassed. Claire let out a small, high pitched screech, making me jump. The poor girl was going to have to be with him all day, which she clearly didn't want to. But the question is why.

"I'll show her around Brennan." I said putting my arm around the girl, she looked up slightly and sort of smiled

"But I-" she started, I looked at her, she, for once, understood, "Alright."

"Come on Claire, I'll show you around."

We walked around the Jeffersonian, she barely talked. But she did. As quiet as she may be she's very funny. I learned little about her but I _did_, however, learn that she's a foster kid and has an older brother. The way she talked about her brother, she clearly loved him. She was the only thing in her childhood that was set in stone. I took her into my office or… interrogation.

"So, Claire, what do you think of Zach?" I said smiling, trying to seem friendly

"Um…" she said, looking confused

"You didn't seem too excited when Brennan said _he_ would show you around."

"Oh…" she said looking down at the floor. Her eyes weren't wide, they were embarrassed, "So I'm that obvious." She whispered

"No, just to me. Or maybe Sweets. Wait… what's obvious?"

"That I sort of like Zach…" she said, still embarrassed

"Really?" I shouted, her eyes went wide and I covered my mouth, she tried not to laugh, "That was _so_ loud I'm _so_ sorry."

"It's ok, at least you didn't actually say it." she said, not whispered, not muttered

"Oh my god, you and… him would be _so_ cute together!" I laughed, feeling like I was in high school and my best friend just told me who she liked

"Really?" she asked, meaning it

"Yes! Both of you are extremely quiet and you both look like scared puppies and little kids. Well, maybe he's not quiet, more awkward."

"Isn't being abnormally quiet considered awkward?" she said surprising me, "Yeah… I know I'm quiet. I do it purposely."

"Why?"

"I… I never thought about why" she said blushing

"Oh that _does_ matter, what does matter is Zach. So, what are you going to do?"

"What so you mean 'what am I going to do'? I'm not going to _do_ anything."

"You're not going to ask him out?" she shook her head, "Why?"

"Because he doesn't like me!" she shouted, "I'm… a nerd, and I look like it too."

"No you don't."

"I have glasses, they make me look like a librarian." She said sadly, I laughed making her smile

"Librarians can be sexy."

"Doubt it."

"Well let's go see what Zach thinks of them."


	2. Angela's mistake

**Angela POV**

Over the first two months of Claire working at the Jeffersonian, things did not get easier. 'Things' meaning Zach. She never stopped liking him. He never knew. And so, he didn't make things easier. One day, while looking over a body (how romantic), everyone started to discus Brennan's book. An important thing to know is that in the book, Zach is a virgin (which he probably is any way). So, in the discussion, Zach was going on and on about his sexual triumphs.

I looked at her, feeling extremely bad for her. She looked almost normal, but her eyes weren't scared. They were sad and angry. She was glaring at him out of the corner of her eyes. She continued to write observations down in her folder, clearly trying to ignoring Zach's stories. But clearly he went too far. A tear slipped down from her eye. She slammed the folder onto the table we were all at and ran off, wiping her eyes.

"Where's she headed off to?" Booth asked

"She probably had a panic attack from being around people for too long." Hodgins joked, I slapped his arm

"That's so mean! Someone probably upset her, somehow." I said trying not to look directly at Zach, he turned and looked in her direction

"Maybe you should go check on her." He said looking at me

"Why?" I asked a bit more harshly than I meant

"Because she looked pretty shaken up, I think she was crying."

It took me a half an hour to find her. I looked in almost every room in the Jeffersonian. I found her in my office, sitting on the floor crying her eyes out. She had displayed the structure of the murder victim we were working on. She was crying so hard, she took her glasses off.

That wasn't the only time I found her crying somewhere in the museum. Sometimes she cried so early in the morning that she spent the rest of the day with me, not wanting to see Zach again. One time she went home early. But no one knew that. She never told anyone that she had went home. After a couple of hours she called me, telling me that she left. She had been so shaken up because she had planned on asking him out that day.

Then one day in the lab, I couldn't find her. She hadn't been crying. She didn't go home. She wasn't crying. I had asked Hodgins if he had seen her, he said he saw her talking to Zach. I started to go find her, but he stopped me, saying to leave them alone. When I asked him why he said "They're… getting along". So I decided to go back to my office and identify a body. When the identification came up, missing persons report and all, I made a big mistake. I sent it to her and Zach without _really_ looking. I had just looked at the face. After a few minutes of not really doing anything I saw the name. Mike Lilac. Claire's older brother.


	3. A discovery

**A/N: Hey everyone, its thehogwartsgleechick finally saying something about this story. I just wanted to thank **star1the2friend **for leaving one of the nicest reviews on any of my stories. Oh and one more thing, ZACH ADDY IS SO ADORABLE! I ABSOLUTLY LOVE HIM HE'S MY BABY. **

**Zach POV**

Claire Lilac. She's a bit weird. Cute, but a bit weird. She's an extremely quiet girl. Her hair is a silky dark brown color, darker than mine. Much darker. Her big scared eyes made me feel as if I was melting whenever she looked at me. The color looked as if you were looking into a small picture of a grass field. Her skin always looked flushed, like she was always embarrassed or scared, which she probably was. She was, in short, beautiful. From the first day I met her I knew I had feelings for her. Strong feelings. I never bothered to tell anyone, it was weird for me to like someone.

I never thought I would be alone with her to have a real conversation. I thought that our only conversations would be strictly work related. But one day she was in the lab, looking over a body. Alone. I didn't think it was her when I first looked, her hair was down. Something I'd never seen. Her hair had a neat wave that didn't go far down past her shoulders. I took a deep breath and quickly walked over to the other side of the table, facing her. She didn't look up. She didn't make any indication that she knew I was there. I cleared my throat when I built up the courage. She looked up at me, clearly unaware I had been there.

"I'm sorry…" I said feeling embarrassed, she looked back down at the body, "Um… identification?" she shook her head

"Your hair's down." I said, desperate for a 'real' conversation. She looked up at me, not scared, not embarrassed, she just looked at me. "It's never like that." She smiled

"Yes." She said softly, I was surprised, I'd never heard her speak before

"You talked…"

She laughed, "Is it allowed?" she asked, a long few seconds later I realized I had to respond, I nodded, "Ok good."

I finally tore my eyes away from her and looked at the body. For several minutes we were completely silent, like normal. There was an inconsistency in the pelvic region. She came over to my side of the table to look at it. As she looked over it standing right next to me, basically leaning on me. I couldn't focus on the work; I was too concentrated on looking at her. She leaned away from the body and slightly closer to me. Her big eyes looked into mine.

"What do you think it is?" I asked quietly, still staring at her

"…A crime of passion…" she whispered, looking up at me like a little kid.

"That makes sense," I said in response, "passion brings out a persons real personality."

We leaned in closer to each other, preparing to kiss. Her eyes got bigger, but not like they did the first day I met her. The day I first met her, her eyes were bigger than I though humanly possible. Her eyes weren't scared (a lot) they were just… anxious. I gently took her face in my hands. I'd never touched her before. I always thought she was so delicate that I would break her. I felt electricity fly through my fingers at the touch. Our lips were to meet- a sound blared from the computer, shattering the moment.

It was Angela's identification. Claire put her hand on mine for a moment then slipped away, walking over to the computer. I loved watching her type. Her fingertips gently tapped each key. Her eyes quickly looked across each word she typed, scanning for mistakes. She entered in the code and the picture of the victim we had been looking at popped up. His hair was short and a dark brown, but lighter than Claire's. His eyes were what I thought was big before I met her, with a dark shade of green. He looked relatively similar to Claire. She turned back to face me. Tears had streamed down her cheeks. Her shoulder shook. She ran up to me, hiding her face in my chest.

"Claire, what is it?" I asked hugging her

She turned her head so she could see the body, "That's…that's…that's my brother." She said looking at it.


	4. Zach's apartment

**Sorry if this is written badly, but I'm writing this right now at 11:30 while watching TV in the blistering heat**

**Zach POV**

I closed the door of my small apartment. Claire looked around the apartment as if it was something amazing. But it wasn't. It was just oddly neat and plain. But yet, her big beautiful eyes looked over every single object in the room carefully. The way her over night bag hung off her shoulder made her look like a teenager in school. She set her bag on the couch then went into the bathroom to do… something. The few minutes she was in there I spent rushing to clean the house up, hoping that her big eyes scanned so much that the mess didn't stay.

She came out with her hair down like before, but brushed out. She had taken her glasses off, making her look absolutely stunning. She had changed into dark fabric shorts and a grey tank top. It was the first time I had ever seen her in shorts and/or a tank top. Her arms and legs were long and tanned, but not too much. Her feet were smaller than I expected them to be. Well, I didn't really know how small I expected them to be, but they were a… size six ½ or 7. She put the small bag she was holding in her bag and walked over to me.

"Um… Zach… I just wanted to say again, thank you. This means… a lot." She said looking a bit nervous

"You're welcome." I said back

She quickly hugged me, catching me off guard. I expected her to pull away as fast as she came up to me, because things were still weird because of what happened next to her brothers remains. But I guess that didn't bother. I hugged her back. I had never noticed that she smelled like berries. Like when you open a fresh box of strawberries. I kissed the top of her head, preparing for complete embarrassment. She looked at me. Not surprised, not happy, not disgusted (thank goodness). She just looked at me, straight faced. But I liked it. Her eyes were kind. She stood on her toes and softly kissed my lips. It was quick and innocent. And perfect. I wanted to tell her that I'd been watching her since I met her. That I was falling for her. That she meant everything to me. I wanted so desperately that I was falling in love with her.

"Claire." I whispered

"Yeah?" she asked back quietly

"Well… I was thinking that… well…" I stuttered, feeling nervous

"Zach? What is it?" she asked clearly trying not to smile, but failing

"If you're sleeping on the couch, well… that's in the same room as the front door. And… if the killer comes… I probably won't hear it. So… so I was thinking…" she finished for me

"I know what you're trying to say Zach… I think."

Five minutes later I was in the bathroom, slightly freaking out. Knowing full well that the girl of my dreams is falling asleep in my bed does that to me. I can't help it. I splashed water on my face, hoping it would help. It didn't really. I couldn't think of any tricks to slow down my heart rate. I opened the medicine cabinet. The only thing remotely helpful was my toothbrush and toothpaste. When I was little, brushing my teeth always calmed down. So, out of desperation, I brushed my teeth. And it worked much better than I thought it would. But I was still nervous. But I decided it wouldn't get much better, so I went out.

A vital thing to know, by the way, is that my bed is a bit bigger than a twin size bed. Enough to fit two people, but there's not as much room as a queen. Claire was tucked under the blankets, pulling them up to her chin. She looked so cute, like a little kid. Her eyes didn't look tired, like they sometimes did in the lab. My heartbeat picked up again. I almost ran back into the bathroom to brush my teeth again, but I then realized that would be weird. So, instead I slipped under the blankets next to her.

She moved in closer to me, putting her head on my shoulder. I put an arm around her wait. I didn't care how long the moment lasted, I would cherish it forever. For a long time we just laid there, looking at each other. Then she kissed my cheek. And I swear it was like everything after that happened in a flash.

I kept my one arm on her waist and the other across the back of her shoulders. Her hands had slipped to the back of my neck. She kissed me square on the mouth. Over and over and over. My lips moved across her jaw, she slipped her hands to my hair. Running her fingers through it, pulling slightly. Almost instantaneously we pulled away from each other. It was like we had a mental conversation that we shouldn't do it. She rested her head on my shoulder again


	5. The call

**Angela POV**

Zach walked into my office, taking a deep breath. He must've gone straight to my office because he wasn't wearing a lab coat. He looked around the room, looking confused. I couldn't help notice that his hair looked messed up.

"Where's Claire?" he asked still confused

"She didn't come in with you?" he shook his head, "I guess she's still on her way."

"But she always comes in at exactly eight o'clock. It's eight ten." He said starting to breathe faster

"Zach! Calm down!" I laughed, "Sit down and just… wait."

"Can you call her?" he asked looking like a little kid looking for him mommy

"Alright, hold on."

I took out my phone and dialed her number. Her home number. It rang for a couple of minutes, then her voice mail. _Hey it's Claire, for some reason I can't pick up right now, but be sure to leave a message and I'll get back to you! _I hung up and decided to call her cell. _Hi it's Claire, I can't pick up right now which is unlike me but leave a message! _I hung up again and frowned. She always picks up her phone, _always_.

"Angela, what happened?" Zach asked standing up

"Nothing… she didn't pick up."

"_What_? Doesn't she always pick up?" he said panicking

"Zach, calm down. Let's just… go out to the lab and she'll probably be talking to Brennan with her big eye like always. Then she'll see you and those big scared eyes will get even bigger." I said pulling him out the door

"And then she'll kiss me again?" he asked like a hopeful child

"Again?" I asked with an eyebrow raised

"She didn't tell you?"

"No when I called her this morning she said she'd tell me at the lab."

Zach ran into the lab, only to be disappointed. In the lab was Brennan, Booth, Hodgins, but no Claire. He was asked all of them if they had seen her. He was clearly starting to worry, and so was I. I mean… I wasn't at first, but this was unlike her. She always was in contact with one of us.

My phone vibrated. Someone was calling me. Everyone got silent and looked at me. The number was _unknown_. I looked at everyone, they all nodded. I pressed the little green button, then pressed _speaker_.

"Hello?" I asked

"Who is this?" a raspy voice asked, harshly

"Um… who is _this_?" I asked uncertain, I thought I heard Claire say my name in the background, "Is that Claire?"

The man on the phone laughed, "Angela, is the boy there?" he asked

"Boy?" I asked, genuinely confused

"Zachary." The was he said it, I could tell he was smirking

"Where's Claire?" Zach asked snatching the phone from my hand.

"Zachary, there you are. Oh, that's right, Claire! She's right here, would you like to talk to her."

There were some sounds in the back and we heard Claire gasp

"Say hi Claire." The man said

"Zach! Zach, do _not_ look for me, he'll-" she screamed and there was a crashing sound

"Shut up!" she man shouted, "She had twenty four hours to live Zach. Better hurry."

Then the line went dead.


	6. Finding Claire

**A/N: I need an opinion, should I continue the story after the next few chapters in this story or do it in another fanfic for this story (I realize however so confusing that it)?**

**Angela POV**

For hours we tried and tried to figure out where he might be keeping Claire, but the hour and a half of pure guessing didn't help. Not mostly because of Zach freaking out every three seconds (not an exaggeration, that very well may be extending the time length in case Claire finds out). But also because we didn't have much evidence to analyze. Eventually it became practically unbearable to listen to Zach, so we all had a mental agreement, so I took Zach to my office to try and calm him down.

I sat him down on the couch in my office and gave him something to drink. Me being the hopeful person I am, thought that maybe, just _maybe_ it would calm him down. It didn't, not really. He was less loud. He leaned forward in his seat, with his head in his hands. I sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, awkwardly.

"What if we don't find her?" he whispered

"Zach…" I said feeling sad just looking at his. He dropped his hands and looked at me, was that a _tear_? He looked completely and utterly shaken up

"What if we run out of time and she dies?" he said louder, I may have been offended at the harshness if his voice hadn't cracked

"Zach, that isn't going to-"

"But what if it does?" I didn't know how to respond

"How about this: since you and Claire are the only ones who know what happened last night, why don't you… enlighten me." Was that insensitive? It was the first thing that popped into my head

"What do you mean? Like did we have sex?"

I laughed; it was so cute how he said it. Like he was in trouble.

"Well, I just wanted to know what happened, but if you want you can fill me in on all the saucy details." He blushed

"Well…" he sighed, "I _thought_ we were going to, but we didn't."

"Aw." I said secretly happy that he wasn't freaking out anymore

"But it's ok." He said reassuringly, "I figured that I would officially ask her out today. But now… maybe it's ok that I can't ask her out."

"Oh, Zach," I said sympathetically, "don't think like that. We're gunna find her and you're gunna ask her out. And do you want to know why?"

"I don't know, do I?"

"Yes," I laughed, "And the reason is because she likes you, and now she's gunna kill me."

"Really?" he asked smiling brighter than I've ever seen him smile

"Yes.", Zach stood up and ran out of the room, "Zach! Where are you going?" I called after him. I rolled my eyes and stood up. Running after him was hard in my heels

By the time I caught up to him everyone was deep in conversation (he must be a fast runner). Zach looked even more worried. I caught up t them all crowded around Hodgins's computer.

"This killer is a cereal killer, who likes to keep the murders similar to each other." Brennan said when I got to them

"The first body was found here," Booth said pointing to a spot on a map on the desktop

"The second one was found here." Hodgins said pointing to a spot not far away from the first, "Based on the bugs found on Claire's brother indicate that he was killed here." He said pointing to a red spot in the middle of town, "But found here."

"But… that's a lake." I said looking at where her brother was found

"It's not _just_ a lake." He said zooming in closer on the lake, there was a small house on the beach that was probably about thirty years old but looked like a thousand, "This was a foster home called Simin's Home, that housed three families and five individual kids. One of those families was Mike Angelz and Claire Angelz."

"That was Claire's old foster home?" Brennan asked

"Yes, all of the murderers victims were found in some place connected to their childhood."

"Why is that spot red?" Zach asked pointing to the spot that her brother was killed

"That's where all of the victims were killed after being tortured for about… twenty hours." Hodgins said

"What's the building?" Booth asked

"An old manufacturing building that broke down three years before the first victim was killed."

"So that means…?" I asked

"I think we found Claire." Booth said walking away, we all followed, "I'll call all of you when we get her, alright?" he asked, Zach put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. We all looked at him surprised that a kid as small as him could even move an FBI agent like Booth

"And you expect me to not come _with_ you?" he said a bit harshly, but no one cared

"Um… yes Zach, you guys are just Squints."

"But so is Brennan." Hodgins pointed out

"Booth," I said, "Claire is one of us. And there is _no_ way I'm going to be able to keep Zach in here now."

"Exactly, so I'm coming let's go." Zach said walking, but I stopped him

"Zach!" he turned and looked at me, "You didn't let me finish. There is no way I'm going to keep Zach here is because I'm coming to. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we all are."

"Yes, let's go." Hodgins said. All of us started for the door, throwing our lab coats off, I glanced back at Booth who looked like he was going to protest, but saw a lost cause.

() () () ()

"Go faster!" Zach whined from the back seat

"Zach I can't go faster." Booth snapped a bit harshly considering that Zach was close to being crushed and any little thing could break him

"Booth just turn the siren on!" I shouted

Brannan reached up and clicked something and lights blared. Booth glared at her, but stepped on the gas after catching a glimpse at Zach. He had his head in his hands and looked down on the floor. He was sitting between Hodgins and me. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Zach everything's going to be ok. We're going to save her."

"It's all my fault." He muttered

"Zach don't blame yourself, no one could've prevented this." Hodgins said

"Yes, I could have." He leaned back in his seat. His breathing was shaky, "I told her I would come with her to her house. But she said no."

"Zach you can't blame yourself for something like that." I said

"I should have protested."

Zach here's what we're gunna do." Hodgins said, Zach looked completely depressed, "We're going to go into that building, we're going to find her, and you will tell you how you feel."

"How he feels? How does he… _feel_?" Booth asked from the front

"He likes her?" I asked, Zach put his heads in his hands again, I look at Hodgins, he nodded

"Don't worry Zach…" I said putting an arm around him

() () () ()

The agents smashed the door in and Zach ran into the darkness. Booth called after him quietly, but then changed his min. We had gone over the plan in the car; the only problem was that Zach was completely unarmed and unprotected. We all ran after him in the darkness. There was a sound in the distance, like a crashing. And then a soft whimper.

"Shut up!" a man shouted, another crash

"Claire…" Zach whispered

Booth moved in front of all of us, holding his gun. Zach asked him something I didn't hear. Booth sighed and pulled a small gun out of his pocket. Zach leaned against the door and looked through a small opening. Then Booth looked. Then Brennan. Then Hodgins. Then me. It was hard to see a lot but I saw Claire on the floor, but I her face wasn't visible, and a man (who's face was also not visible) holding a gun. Booth kicked in the door and shot the man. He fell to the floor, dropping his gun. Zach ran in, shot the dead man about ten times, and ran to Claire's side all in a second. Every bullet Zach shot went in the heart. Who knew he was such a sharp shoot?

Hodgins and I looked at the dead man; it was no one familiar, at least to me. I looked back behind me, to Zach and the rest. Brennan and Booth were standing over Claire, looking down on her and Zach. Zach had pulled Claire's unconscious body into his lap. He cradeled her like a baby, with his forehead pressed against hers. Where she was laying on the floor, against the wall, were pools of blood. Blood was smeared on the walls and all over the ground. Her shirt (a cute one at that) was dampened with the red liquid. She was soaked so badly in her own blood that it was also getting on Zach. But he didn't seem to care. I knelt down next to Zach, and looked at his face.

His eyebrows were knit together, his eye looked pained. But anyone would be pained as they watched their crush bleed to death. But what had Hodgins meant about "how he felt"? Did he have some even _more_ secretive feelings? I watched a tear trickle down his cheek. I put a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly towards me.

"Can you please call an ambulance?" he asked quietly

"Of course, Zach." Zach leaned down and kissed Claire's forehead

Booth took out his phone and called someone, telling them to come get Claire. Hodgins bent down on the other side of Zach. We both put a hand on each of his shoulders. His shoulder that I had my hand on was a bit off set. Clearly Booth's gun was a bit too strong for Zach. He pulled something out of his pocket and moved the hair from her face. He slipped her glasses onto her face.

"She left them at my house last night," he sniffled, "I brought them in so I could have an excuse to talk to her."

"Zach…" I said rubbing his shoulder, "That's so sweet. And you wouldn't need an excuse; she'd want to talk to you."

"How do you know?" he muttered looking down at her

"She's one of my two best friends, Zach, she told me everything. She liked you too." He looked at me for the first time since we had found her unconscious

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked looking at her

"I was the only one that knew, Zach, come on. Let's get her up and to the ambulance."


	7. Hospital Part 1

**A/N: I really need some help on what I should do with this story because this could possibly be the last chapter! Come on everyone, help out the little hogwartsgleechick!**

**Zach POV**

I felt my eyes start to get heavy in the hospital. I had been awake for fifteen hours, waiting for Claire to wake up. My hand went to the patch under my shit on my shoulder. The gun I used had dislocated it slightly. The doctors said that Melisa had suffered from several broken bones and ribs, head trauma, massive blood loss, and probably other things from being tortured. They said that if we hadn't found her so soon, she would've most likely died. We all sat in her hospital room, waiting for her to wake up for quite some time. Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth had to go out and inspect a body for a new case. The Hodgins had to go look at some bugs found on the body. Angela went to go work on identification. But I refused to leave.

I held her hand and watched her sleep. The doctors said that she should've been waking up any time soon. They gave me a TV remote to entertain me, but I didn't need it. She peacefully slept, with her glasses on the table next to her hospital bed. She looked so little, tucked into the soft blankets, like a sleeping child. I was holding her hand that had fallen out of the blankets. I looked at the clock. 2:15 PM, she was supposed to be awake by 2:10. What if…

"Zach?" she whispered

I turned to look at her. Her eyes were opened slightly, but I could still see the tiny sparkle that I always saw when she looked at me. I stood up from the chair and leaned over the bed and hugged her. Her hair smelled like soap and chemicals, as did her clothes, but that's what hospitals smell like.

"Claire, are you ok?" I said when she put her arms around me

"For someone who's been smashed against a wall several times in the past 48 hours, I suppose." She said quietly smiling

"Good."

"How…how long was I asleep?" she asked looking out the window

"A really long time."

"How long were you here?" she asked looking at me

"A really long time…" I said blushing slightly

"Zach!" she said loudly, probably as loud as she could

"What?" I asked quietly

"You must be exhausted!" she said sitting up, but then cringing from moving, I took her hand as she settled back down, "You should get some rest." She said quieter

"But you just woke up." I protested, "I can't leave you alone again."

"Zach," she said holding my hand tighter, "I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving you." I protested even more

She moved closer to me, her lips close to mine, "Go lie down." I shook my head

"I am _not_ leaving your side."

She moved over in her bed, so much that there was room for two people, "Then don't. Zach, you _need_ sleep."

I crawled onto the bed and under the blankets, leaving my shoes on the floor. For the first time our faces were at the same level. Her eyes looked big and slightly scared again. But not like when we met. Somewhat like she was nervous. But she still put her head on my shoulder. She started falling asleep on me.

"Zach…?" she said quietly

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

She sighed, "For staying here, waiting for me. I hope I was worth it."

"It was worth it." I said putting an arm around her

She pressed her lips against mine lightly. It was the best kiss I'd had with her. But suddenly she slightly slipped away, but not that far. I looked down at her. She had her head on my shoulder with her eyes closed. She had fallen asleep. She looked like an angel.


	8. Hospital Part 2

**A/N: Oh thehogwartsgleechick, you're such a fail. Chapter 4 is supposed to be chapter 5. Anyway the real chapter 4 was just everyone talking about how Claire was rich and she would probably be the next victim so Zach offered to let her spend the night as his house. ONWORD WITH THE STORY!**

**Angela POV**

I had been prepared for a lot of things in my life. But when I walked into Claire's hospital room I never thought I would've _had_ to be prepared for wheat I saw. It was just… let me explain.

Claire wasn't alone in her hospital bed. Zach was lying next to her. Claire was asleep but Zach looked as if he had just woken up. She was laying with her head tucked between his head in his shoulder. He had his arms around her. Together they looked like two seven year olds tucked under a blanket, it was adorable.

"Did you finally sleep?" I asked walking in

"Yes, but not for long." He said still looking at her (aw!)

"Why?" I asked, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed

"I had a bad dream." He said looking scared

"Aw, Zach, tell me about your dream." I laughed

"Well..." he sighed, "Claire was in a glass case… and I couldn't get to her." I nodded, "She was screaming. It was muffles, like she was far away, but I understood what she was saying. She said I had to save her quickly and get out or he would come. When I asked who she was talking about…"

"Zach? What happened next?" I asked sympathetically

"She started bleeding, everywhere and for no apparent reason. She fell and I tried to break the encasement. But then the man came."

"Her brothers killer?" I asked

"No someone… someone else." He looked away, I didn't push

"Ok, what happened then?"

"He came up and shot me in the heart. Before I bleed out he said 'that's where love comes from, not here' then he pointed his gun at my forehead and I woke up."

"That's awful, Zach are you ok?" I asked

"I suppose, it made me feel better when I woke up and saw that she was ok. Well… sort of ok."

"She'll be fine Zach, that's one thing you don't need to worry about."

"If you're talking about me then Angela's right." Claire muttered, "Hi Zach."

"Hey," he kissed her quickly, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, calm down." She laughed, "What's up Angela?"

"Well… could I talk to you? Alone." We both turned to Zach

"Are you sure you're ok?" he said again, she kissed him to shut him up

"I am fine. Go outside sweetie." He reluctantly got up

I sat down in the chair next to her. Zach lingered outside, but Claire motioned for him to go farther. Slowly, he drifted out of sight. Zach went over to talk to Hodgins, who smiled at me. I plastered a smile on my face, and turned back to Claire, who was looking back and forth between Hodgins and I. She shot a look out the window and her eyes followed what was probably the two walking farther away.

"So what's up?" she asked leaning back, more relaxed

"I was hoping for you're advice." I said

"_My_ advice? On what?" she asked surprised

"Hodgins asked me out. I said yes." I choked out

"_WHAT_?" she screamed. She started coughing and rested her head, weakened. Zach started to run, but I glared at him to run back. "Sorry… when do you go on the date?"

"Yesterday, while you were unconscious and Zach was here waiting."

"Oh my god… how did it go?"

"It was amazing. Perfect actually. But… I broke it off."

"And you did that _because_…?" she asked with squinted eyes and a slightly harsh tone

"Because if it ended, it would end in flames." She shook her head

"Angela… I love you, but you are an _idiot_."

"Really?" I laughed

"Actually yes, you are. Angela, you like Hodgins, I know you do. And he is _crazy_ about you, he told me himself. He is one of the sweetest guys you will ever meet. You…" her eyes slowly closed, and snapped open, "You'll regret not letting yourself have him." Her eyes started to close again

"Get some sleep, I'll go talk to Jack." I sighed

"Oooo, you'll talk to _Jack_." She smirked  
"Shut up." I stood up and started walking

"Love you too."


	9. A surprise

**Hey guys, no I'm not dead **** I know I've been a crappy author lately, but I'm going to try and write more sooner! And thanks everyone for the reviews after I stopped updating! Number one reason I stopped is because I wasn't getting as much reviews and them my email got screwed up and I got no alerts and any feedback from you guys! I am so so so so so so sowy, and thanks for hanging in there! Take a thank you/I'm sorry cake!**

**Angela POV**

I was sitting in my office, doing some research on our latest case. Checking through bank records, finding possible police reports, social networking sites and emails, normal stuff. I heard my door open and when I looked up, I saw Clair standing in my office with her normal tight ponytail and glasses. I jumped up and hugged her, trying not to hug to tight so I wouldn't hurt her.

"Clair, what are you doing here?" I asked, still hugging her, "Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" she laughed and continued to hug her

"They let me out early but I still have to go back every Wednesday and take some medicine, but I'm fine." She pulled away and gave me a serious look, "Honest."

"What did Zach say when he saw you today?" she looked at the floor and tucked at her hair, "You haven't seen him yet have you?"

"I was on my way, but I saw you first." She said quietly. I linked my arm in hers and dragged her out of my office, "What are you doing?"

"I wanna see you reunite with your lover." I joked. She blushed as she shoved my slightly. We walked into the lab and Zach was standing on the platform behind Hodgins, who was on the computer, "Zach, look who I found."

Zach's eyes went wide when he saw Claire standing next to me. His skin, which was already fairer than the average person, got paler. He ran down the four slightly pathetic stairs and quickly pulled her into a tight hug. She laughed quietly as she hugged him back, burying her face in his neck. Hodgins and I stood back and watched the two hugging. I thought about what Claire had said. About how I'd regret it if I didn't let myself have him. She was probably right, that's the bad part about being surrounded by super geniuses. And I had to admit, I felt sort of bad…

"Claire, what are you doing here?" he asked her, still hugging her tightly

"Solving murders." She laughed, "I know I'm back early, but they let me out because I was recovering fast." Claire kissed his cheek lightly, "You don't have to worry about me."

"I'm sorry." He said. Zach gently took her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers. Jack and I looked at each other, both of us smiling a little. He pulled away and smiled at her, "I just don't want anything to happen to you. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Zach I'm fine. I promise." Before kissing him again, she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. And I knew that she wasn't going to let the whole Hodgins thing go.

… … … …

****I leaned on the railing next to Hodgins desk. I'm not sure if he saw me, he didn't look up. His blue eyes stayed glued to the screen. I knew he was still a bit mad at me for breaking it off. And he had every right to be. It was, and always will be, the best date of my life. I sighed.

"Jack." His eyes looked up at me, but his body didn't move, "Can we talk?"

"Sure." He said simply. I looked down a bit

"Jack, I made a mistake." I said, "I shouldn't have broken it off with you. And I'm sorry. I think that… that I was just afraid."

"Scared that I'd hurt you." He guessed. Hodgins stood up and sighed a bit, "Angela, you know I would never hurt you, right? And if you don't, then at least let me convince you. Please?" I smiled and kissed him quickly

"Why do you think I came here?"

… … … …

**Zach POV (I just realized two things. 1. This is the first POV switch in the story and 2. I haven't written in Claire's POV yet)**

Claire was leaning over the body, holding a small piece of bone in front of her. I stood on the other side of the table, not saying anything so I didn't shake her focus. I watched her green eyes looking the bone over. She bit her lip, squinting her eyes a bit. Claire sighed and put the piece back on the table. For a few moments, she stared at it on the table, then she looked up at me and smiled a little.

"Hi Zach." She said

"Hi, is something wrong?" she took her gloves off and walked over to my side of the table, "Are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine, I'm just… having trouble identifying the weapon." She smiled smally. I took her hands in mine gently

"Are you sure that's all?" I asked, "If not, can I do anything to help?" she shook her head, holding my hands tighter. I kissed her forehead lightly, "Would you like to sleep at my apartment tonight, so that you're not alone?" she smiled and tightly wrapped her arms around my neck

"Yes, thank you." She whispered in my ear, "It means a lot, Zach."

"It's nothing, Claire. I… I like you a lot." I said slowly. She kissed my cheek and bit her lip

"I like you too, Zach." She said quietly. Dr. Brennan walked in then, so that's when the conversation ended


	10. Zach's apartment again

**Zach POV**

In my apartment, I finished making dinner for Claire and I. She was sitting on the couch watching the news on my television, hugging her knees close to her chest. I set down the plates with her favorite meal (pene alla vodka) on the coffee table in front of us. Claire moved closer to me, gently kissing my cheek and resting her head on my shoulder.

"Thanks Zach." She said simply

"For what?"

"For inviting me to stay with you tonight. To be honest," she blushed slightly, "I was sort of hoping you would. I didn't really want to be alone tonight."

"Well you can stay with me as long as you like." I said, slowly putting an arm around her waist, "I want you to be safe." Claire giggled and tightly wrapped her arms around my neck.

I kissed her softly, holding her closer to me. Just from holding her, I could tell she had gotten considerably skinnier. Maybe because she was just in the hospital. Maybe because her brother was dead. Several times I had overheard Claire talking to Angela about her brother. He was older than her by three years. When their parents died, he was the only one who could comfort her for the longest time. He was the only thing solid in her childhood. And he was just gone. I slipped my hand, which wasn't around her waist, to the back of her neck.

Her lips smiled against mine. I could feel Claire's light, steady, pulse on the side of her neck. It made me feel just a bit better. Every time I closed my eyes, I still saw her unconscious on the floor. So feeling her heartbeat did a pretty good job in consoling me. I pulled her closer to me again. Though it slipped my mind how close she was already, so she was practically sitting on my lap.

"Zach?" she whispered, her breath of my face gave me chills

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for caring about me so much. I really need it right now." Claire kissed me again for a moment, but fell in my arms slightly. She hid her face in my neck. I held the back of her head, and felt her shaking slightly

"Claire?" she shook a bit more and I could feel her crying, "Claire, I'm so sorry." I kissed the top of her head as she curled up against me. "Do you want to, um… talk about it? I know I'm not good at talking but I can try." She laughed and looked at me

"You're fine Zach." She said. I wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Sorry I just…" she closed her eyes, "A couple of days before we identified him, my brother said he had something to tell me. He was in town for a while and we were going to meet up. He had been meaning to tell me something for a couple of months, but that's when I started at the Jeffersonian and now… I'll never know." I rubbed her arm, trying to calm her down. And it worked. She stopped crying and actually smiled.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked. She lightly kissed me

"Nothing more than what you're already doing."

… … … …

A couple of hours later I looked down at Claire. She had her arms wrapped around my waist and her head rested on my shoulder. Her knees were tight against her chest. I assumed she had fallen asleep about half an hour before. Gently, I slipped her glasses off and placed them on the coffee table. She stirred slightly, but stayed asleep. I held her waist and under her legs, then carried her to my bedroom. She stirred again, and her eyes gently fluttered opened.

"Did I fall asleep?" she groaned quietly

"Yes, but not for that long." I laid her on my bed gently and covered her with a blanket and kissed her forehead, "Go back to sleep."

"Do we have to go to work tomorrow?" she asked with her eyes closed

"No. Why?" she smiled

"I'm going to be a mess tomorrow." I sat down and pulled her head in my lap

"I'll be right back." I kissed her head again and went to change quickly. I laid next to her and she, almost immediately, moved against me. "Everything's going to be ok Claire. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Her hand on my chest gripped my shirt tightly

I realized how much Claire had changed since I met her. She wasn't so scared all the time. Though her eyes were still frightened, it wasn't all the time anymore. In the first couple months I knew her, she never spoke a word. To me, to Agent Booth, to Hodgins. Only Angela, and Dr. Brennan when she needed to. She no longer ran away, avoiding being close to people at the Jeffersonian other than Angela. Maybe it was because of her brothers' death. Maybe it was something else. I loved the quiet, scared, distant girl I met in the Jeffersonian months before. But I also loved the more open and equally beautiful girl that needed me to survive her brothers' death.

I'm always being told that I'm smart, by lots of people. And they're absolutely right. I am smart. When it comes to science and other things that are set in stone. But I'm clueless when it comes to people. Especially Claire. I never, even as a child, understood "Love at first sight". How could you love someone you knew nothing about. But it's much more complicated. I knew nowhere near as much about Claire as I wanted to, but that didn't change that I loved her. I just had no idea how to tell her.

"I will never let you get hurt again." I kissed her forehead, "I promise."

"Zach… would you mind if I spend the night tomorrow?" she asked quietly

"You could stay here forever if you wanted."


End file.
